Miyata Senior
Miyata, credited as Miyata's Father (宮田父,'' lit. miyata chichi'') in the anime, is a recurring character in Hajime no Ippo. He is a retired Featherweight boxer and the father of Miyata Ichirou. He currently works as a trainer at the Kawahara Boxing Gym. Many fans refer to him as Miyata-san or Miyata Senior as a way to differentiate him from his son. His surname is Miyata. In Japan, surnames are listed before given names. Miyata's given name is currently unknown. History Formerly Japanese and OPBF featherweight champion, he was an acclaimed boxer with hopes of challenging the world, whose style and technique were a source of admiration for his son, Miyata Ichirou. While in the final round of his seventh title defense, he was defeated by Racoon Boy, with what many refer to as "a lucky punch", despite having the lead in the scorecards. He sustained a terrible injury to his jaw, but it was his mental state that suffered the most. Unable to overcome his feelings of helplessness, he was convinced that his style was not good enough to defeat raw strength. The defeated champion abandoned the opportunity to make a comeback, and retired permanently from boxing. Post-Retirement After retirement, Miyata begins working at the Kamogawa Boxing Gym as a boxing trainer, and his son's personal coach. However, after his sons defeat in a sparring match at the hands of newcomer Makunouchi Ippo (who they both largely underestimated), the father-son duo decides to quit the gym, with hopes of settling the score in an official match. They later join the Kawahara Boxing Gym, where they began preparations for the upcoming East Japan Rookie King Tournament. Match History Appearance Miyata's father shows obvious telltale signs of old age and, despite being a boxer in his younger years, has lost a significant amount of muscle mass. He has discolored hair that shows little signs of balding, eyebrows of average thickness, a comparatively large nose and expressive eyes with small dark pupils. His cheekbones and dimples are also shown to be quite prominent in his old age. Personality In his younger years as a boxer, Miyata's father was shown to love boxing and his own style of boxing with great passion, a passion he passes on to his son Miyata Ichirou. He appeared confident and was considered a world contender in his prime form. Consequent to his pride-shattering loss against Randy "Raccoon" Boy Miyata's Father retired, melancholic on the fact that his technique was no match for raw strength in the long run. Since then Miyata's father has been acting as his son's personal trainer, retaining a keen eye and focused seriousness for boxing as he had in his younger years, but little of the enthusiasm. Fighting Style and Techniques Miyata's father is a out-boxer who used the same style that his son Miyata Ichirou uses. It is shown that he could win his fights by points, but he would rather finish fights by KO (which lead to the loss to Randy "Raccoon" Boy). He lacked power so he would use counters as his primary weapon to finish his opponents. Miyata's father used extraordinary speed, timing, and courage. It is revealed that his skills were far greater than his son, when Yagi states that Miyata Ichirou (who was at the time the OPBF champ and a world ranker) "still has a long ways to go." It is possible that Miyata's father has the same level boxing sense as genius Itagaki Manabu, since coach Kamogawa mentions that Miyata's father experienced the "above ring perspective" that Itagaki experienced during his match against Saeki. Techniques *Counter Weaknesses Like his son he lacked power in his regular punches. It's also possible that since he has the same style as his son that he shared the same predictability as well. Miyata's father was not plagued by weight control like his son so stamina was not the problem. Gallery YoungMiyataSanSmiling.jpg|Miyata Sr. in his youth as depicted in the anime. Young-Miyata-San-Dodging.jpg Category:Male characters Category:Retired boxers Category:Trainers Category:Characters from Japan Category:Kawahara Boxing Gym Category:Out Boxers Category:Full name unknown Category:Boxers Category:Orthodox Boxers Category:Champions Category:Characters Category:Miyata family Category:Characters from Tokyo